Chapter 2

I refused to believe it at first.

The boy I had raised, the one I'd loved for eighteen years, couldn't possibly be that cruel.

But the truth was right there—caught on security cameras, backed by every witness.

At school, Leland had turned everyone against Sheila. He mocked her for not having a father, isolated her, and made her life miserable.

And when she fell into depression, he went even further.

He brought in some punks from outside the school to try to assault her.

Sheila managed to run, but the shame and pain were too much. She jumped to her death that night.

I did love the child I carried for ten months—but I wasn't the kind of mother who'd cover up murder.

When I confirmed that Leland was responsible, even as he knelt in front of me, crying and begging for forgiveness, I decided to turn him in.

But before I could dial the number, Vivian suddenly appeared—standing in front of Leland to shield him.

She said she didn't care that Leland had killed her daughter.

She called Sheila a worthless little girl and said it didn't matter if she was gone.

She begged me not to call the police, saying Leland's life would be ruined if he got a criminal record.

She didn't care about her own child's death—but she was desperate to protect my son.

I was stunned, but I didn't dwell on it.

Once I made up my mind, nothing could change it.

Just as I was about to call the cops and have Leland taken away, he burst into tears.

He said he knew he'd done wrong and wanted to make things right.

He asked to talk to me first—said it might be our last conversation for a long time.

After all, he was still the boy I had raised for eighteen years. When he begged like that, I hesitated.

I walked over to the window with him, ready to listen.

Then, out of nowhere, I felt my body falling.

He pushed me from the seventh floor without a second thought.

I didn't die, but I ended up in a coma, trapped in my body like a living corpse.

Lying there, unable to move, I could still see them—Vivian and Leland—standing side by side. They were closer than ever before, like a real mother and son.

I couldn't understand how they'd gotten so close.

Thinking I was gone, Vivian started talking, smug and careless.

That was when I learned the truth.

Leland wasn't my son at all.

After Vivian came back to Angouppes City, her life was in ruins. She envied everything I had—my home, my family, my happiness.

So she took medicine to induce early labor and made sure to give birth on the exact same day I did.

After I gave birth, I was weak and had to stay in bed for a long while.

Vivian offered to help care for my baby. I didn't suspect a thing, so I agreed.

That was when she used the chance to swap our babies in secret.

For the next eighteen years, Vivian and Leland kept in touch behind my back.

While I was signing Leland up for tutoring, hunting down the best teachers, hiring nutritionists—doing everything to make sure he grew up safe and successful—Vivian was teaching him how to smoke and drink. She fed him junk and let him do whatever he wanted.

Freedom won out over rules.

Leland loved being lazy and having fun. But he didn't want to give up the good life I provided, so they made a deal.

Behind my back, they called each other mother and son; in front of me, they played the part so they could keep collecting my money.

They were living off me and enjoying every minute.

And Sheila—my real daughter—had her life stolen.

She suffered abuse at home from Vivian and then humiliation and bullying at school from Leland.

When she finally couldn't bear it and jumped from the eighteenth floor, the pain she must have felt crushed me.

I burned with a rage I couldn't control. I wanted to rip them apart. But I lay in a coma, impotent.

While I was in the hospital, Vivian and Leland used my ID to siphon off all my money.

Every night, they came and tormented me like it meant nothing.

Maybe the fury kept me alive. After three months in that coma, while Vivian was hurting me, I suddenly regained control of my body.

The first thing I tried to do was get up and attack her—to avenge my daughter.

But I was too weak. Leland came up from behind and smashed a vase over my head; blood poured down.

As I closed my eyes, tears streamed down my face. I was full of hate and was sure I would die. I didn't expect what came next.

When I opened them again, I was back in time—the day before I went into labor.